Kavango Zambezi

ABOUT KAVANGO ZAMBEZI

The world's largest transfrontier conservation area

The Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA is situated in the Kavango and Zambezi river basins where the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. It spans an area of approximately
520 000 km² and includes 36 proclaimed protected areas such as national parks, game reserves, forest reserves, community conservancies and game/wildlife management areas.

Nestled within KAZA's boundaries are two of Africa’s biggest tourist attractions. The Victoria Falls is both a World Heritage Site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta and a World Heritage Site, is a magical place where largescale migrations of mega fauna take place annually.

We have been supporting the development of KAZA since 2004 – first with pre-feasibility study, then a feasibility study, thereafter assisting with preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2006, followed by the signing of the official Treaty in 2011.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is the major funder of the KAZA TFCA, through KfW. As implementing agent for KfW funding in this TFCA, we continue to support the KAZA Secretariat to manage project funds and provide technical support through the KAZA Secretariat Support Group and the various Working Groups.

THE JOURNEY THUS FAR

7 December 2006

The partner countries sign a MoU to establish the world’s largest transfrontier conservation area and appoint the KAZA Secretariat to steer its development.

18 August 2011

The heads of state of the five partner countries sign the KAZA Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) Treaty during the SADC Summit in Angola.

Botswana’s Okavango Delta became the thousandth site inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

2014

Research by Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation proves that a population of zebra undertake the longest big-mammal migration in Africa along a 500 km round-trip route in an almost direct north-south axis between Namibia and Botswana in KAZA TFCA.

2015

Angola, Namibia and Zambia start joint law enforcement operations, which yield good results.

2016

The KAZA TFCA master integrated development plan (IDP) is approved by the partner countries. Along with the five country­ IDPs, it guides the development of the TFCA.

8 April 2016

The KAZA Secretariat and Peace Parks Foundation signs a memorandum of understanding to formalise their long-standing cooperation and partnership in the development of KAZA TFCA.

2016

The KAZA univisa, first introduced as a one-year pilot project in November 2014, was relaunched in December 2016. The visa allows visitors access to Zambia and Zimbabwe for the duration of one month. It also covers access to Botswana for day trips through the Kazungula border post.

Our Work

To ensure functionality within the KAZA TFCA, we have identified two key elements that need our attention. First we have to engage in field level interventions aimed at ensuring habitat integrity and ecosystem functionality, especially where the ecosystems transcend the borders of the countries. Secondly we need to address cross cutting issues that are deemed essential for all five partner countries, namely tourism and community development.

Restoring Ecosystems

A key objective of KAZA is to ensure connectivity between key wildlife areas, and where necessary, join fragmented wildlife habitats in order to form an interconnected mosaic of protected areas, as well as restore transboundary wildlife migratory corridors between wildlife dispersal areas (WDAs). These corridors re-establish and conserve large-scale ecological processes that extend beyond the boundaries of protected areas.

Within the KAZA TFCA, six geographically specific WDAs have been identified. These areas offer critical ecological and, in particular, wildlife movement linkages between protected areas across the landscape. The six wildlife dispersal areas include the Zambezi-Chobe Floodplain; Hwange-Kazuma–Chobe; Kwando; Zambezi-Mosi Oa Tunya; Hwange-Makgadikgadi-Nxai; and Khaudum-Ngamiland.

Currently, we focus on two of these:

Chobe-Zambezi Floodplain Wildlife Dispersal Area

One of the prioritised wildlife dispersal areas is the Zambezi-Chobe Floodplain WDA, a large wetland shared between Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, of which the Simalaha Community Conservancy, the eastern Zambezi region in Namibia, and the wetlands of the Chobe National Park in Botswana form the core regarding connectivity between the Chobe National Park in Botswana and the Kafue National Park in Zambia.

The overall objective is to develop a sustainable wildlife economy in the Zambezi-Chobe Floodplain WDA within the KAZA TFCA based on strong community ownership, benefit sharing, resource protection and integrated management of agriculture, settlements and services. This will enhance livelihoods, secure wildlife corridors and dispersal areas and expand the wildlife economy in the area between Chobe (Botswana) and Kafue (Zambia) national parks.

There are currently several community conservation areas and community development initiatives which support the development of this wildlife dispersal area on both sides of the Zambia and Namibia border. Peace Parks Foundation has worked with the Mwandi and Sekute chiefdoms over the past eight years to develop the Simalaha Community Conservancy in Zambia.

Simalaha Community Conservancy

On 22 October 2012 the Simalaha Community Conservancy was officially launched by Chief Sekute of the Kazungula district and Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta of the Sisheke district. Mutual agreement has culminated in a 24 000 hectare wildlife sanctuary as part of a 180 000 hectare community conservancy. Associated projects include investments in conservation agriculture, improved livestock projects, plans for land consolidation, and the establishment of a wildlife economy with the involvement of the private sector.

Kwando Wildlife Dispersal Area

As one of the prioritised wildlife dispersal areas, the Kwando WDA comprises the Luengue-Luiana National Park in Angola, the Sioma-Ngwezi National Park in Zambia, Mudumu and Bwabwata National Parks in Namibia with their associated conservancies and game management areas.What makes this wildlife dispersal area so unique is that borders are unfenced and there is unrestricted wildlife movement here. Elephants from Chobe move across the conservancies and national parks in the Zambezi region of Namibia and disperse along the Kwando River into the Luengue-Luiana National Park in Angola and into Sioma Ngwezi in Zambia.

Wildlife crime remains a major challenge in this WDA. To monitor and protect the movement of wildlife within the Kwando WDA it is critical for the government agencies in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia to work together, liaise and coordinate with each other on specific issues. The poaching crisis is further compounded by the fact that rangers and law enforcement have to contend with a serious lack of resources such as vehicles, boats, rations, fuel, patrol and general camping equipment, as well as limited communication networks and a lack of cross border cooperation between law enforcement agencies. To effectively stop the scourge of poaching, cooperation on both field and park level would need to dramatically increase. We are exploring various avenues through which to facilitate such by various stakeholders that together can contribute to the containment of wildlife crime, allowing the wildlife dispersal area to operate to its full potential.

In this WDA our work centres around supporting the Zambian Government to manage the Sioma-Ngwezi National Park and develop the Silowana Complex.

Sioma Ngwezi / Silowana Complex

Within the Zambia component of the KAZA TFCA lies the Sioma Ngwezi National Park and the Zambezi West Game Management Area, together referred to as the Silowana Complex, an area that was declared by the Litunga – the Lozi King – as a protected area more than a century ago. It is a vast ecosystem which lies within the Kwando WDA and covers an area of approximately 11 500 km2.

Community Development

A core focus of this transfrontier conservation area is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the approximately two million people residing within KAZA by routing development, tourism and conservation projects to them in line with the TFCA objectives.

Ngonye Falls Community Partnership Park

The Community Partnership Park recognises the cultural, aesthetic and tourism value of Ngonye Falls, and aims to to protect and conserve the falls and its riverine habitat as a landmark feature – unlocking the ecotourism potential of the area to benefit the local Simumbi and the Linganga communities on whose land the falls are situated.

Tourism

Kavango Zambezi promises to be southern Africa’s premier tourist destination with the largest contiguous population of the African elephant (approximately 250 000) on the continent. Conservation and tourism will be the vehicle for socio-economic development in the region.

The KAZA TFCA abounds with magnificent tourist sites and attractions, ranging from Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Zimbabwe and Zambia’s Victoria Falls, to the unexplored splendours of the Angolan woodlands and Namibia’s Caprivi Strip.

Our focus is on facilitating the harmonisation of policies and cross-border regulations, as well as the development of infrastructure and tourism products that link these destinations, to allow tourists from the regional and international market to explore southern Africa’s cultural and natural diversity as never before.

21 Jun 2018

DONORS AND PARTNERSSupporting Kavango Zambezi

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

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The United States Government, through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, supports our Rhino Protection Programme, as well as efforts to combat the trafficking of natural resources within the KAZA TFCA region.

KfW supports the development of Limpopo National Park, the re-establishment of wildlife corridors in the Kavango Zambezi TFCA, and the Southern African Wildlife College through Peace Parks Foundation. KfW also played a significant role in the initial establishment of the Malawi-Zambia TFCA.

The Isdell family provides support to Sioma Ngwezi National Park and the Simalaha Community Conservancy in the Kavango Zambezi TFCA. Previously they also supported the development of the Lubombo TFCA and the Rhino Protection Programme.

Swedish Postcode Lottery

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The Swedish Postcode Lottery has been supporting the conservation efforts of Peace Parks Foundation since 2010.

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